After failed attempts to meet during this year’s budget process, the Chesterfield County School Board and the Board of Supervisors will get together Thursday to talk about the future, improve communication and resolve differences. But the delay hasn’t sat well with some members of both boards. “It should have happened 30 days ago, when budget decisions were being made,“ said the School Board member from the Matoaca District, U. Omarh Rajah.

The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors will vote today on a proposed $860.8 million six-year Capital Improvement Program. Covering projects for fiscal years 2010-15, the plan designates $284 million for schools, $277 million for the county and $300 million for public utilities. The plan, revised annually, proposes and prioritizes major public facility projects including enhancements, acquisitions and new development. The county and school Capital Improvement Program is funded with money from the 2004 referendum, current revenues and other sources.

Pressured by outraged taxpayers, the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors last night approved a 19-cent reduction in the real estate tax rate—still not satisfying the public’s demand. The board voted 4-1 to set a rate of 68 cents per $100 assessed value, slashing it from the current 87 cents. The decision came after an emotional public hearing at which about two dozen residents denounced the significant rise in recent property reassessments and demanded a big-enough reduction in the rate to offset the increase.

Amherst County Administrator Rodney Taylor resigned Friday, one day after the Board of Supervisors met in closed session and asked him to step down. Taylor, 49, submitted his letter of resignation to Board of Supervisors Chairman Leon Parrish. Taylor had been in the position for three years. Reached by phone, Taylor said the resignation came as a result of “ongoing issues with the board.“

At 10, Case Meijer might be Chesterfield County’s youngest hero. Last month, he saved the lives of his sisters after discovering a chimney fire in his Brandermill home. This week, the county’s Board of Supervisors recognized Case with a resolution for his valor. While playing video games with a friend in the early morning of Feb. 3, the fifth-grader noticed smoke.

Dinwiddie Supervisors propose cut in tax rate Property reassessments, taken every four years, climb as much as 47.4% The Board of Supervisors yesterday agreed to propose a lower real estate tax rate, but that didn’t please residents whose property assessments have risen dramatically. The board voted 3-2 to advertise a real estate tax rate of 77 cents per $100 of assessed value, 10 cents less than the current rate. Yet even at that proposed rate, the property tax levy would rise 25 percent, based on a 2008 reassessment that showed existing residential property values rose an average 47.4 percent.

Trammell Some members of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors feel frustrated by what they see as a lack of cooperation and ineffective communication with the school administration and School Board in this year’s budget process. They expressed their concerns in a county budget meeting last week. “There has not yet been a serious effort to itemize what they do or what it costs to run the services they provide,“ said Midlothian District Supervisor Daniel A. Gecker.

Chesterfield County’s quest to solidify its identity and gain $2 million or more each year through ZIP code changes is picking up steam. If approved by Chesterfield lead ers, the U.S. Postal Service and residents, a county proposal would change addresses for about 29,000 homes and 2,600 businesses currently listed as “Richmond,“ “Petersburg” or “Colonial Heights.“

Chesterfield County is looking at ways to limit the number of people living under a single roof. Planning commissioners this week directed staff members to work up a draft ordinance by April that would limit the number of occupants based on the home’s square footage. Current Chesterfield zoning law allows as many as four unrelated people to live in one home, including up to two “roomers” who can rent rooms from the homeowner, but there is no cap on the total number in each house. The suggested changes would set a cap on the number who live in a house—even if they are related.

The Goochland County Board of Supervisors has opted not to sell a piece of county property to a developer that wanted to put a chain drugstore in the heart of the rural county. On Tuesday, the board unanimously voted to reject all bids submitted for the purchase of the county-owned Fairground building property off Fairground Road at the Courthouse Commons shopping center.

Expect to see some delays in Chesterfield government building projects for the next five years. With less money expected to come in because of the recession, the county is cutting spending. A proposed Capital Improvement Program for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 shows a reduction of $46.5 million from last year’s five-year plan. “It certainly is an amendment to what we were thinking last year,“ Budget Director Allan Carmody said before he presented the proposal to the Board of Supervisors in a work session yesterday.

Expect to see some delays in Chesterfield government building projects for the next five years. With less money expected to come in because of the recession, the county is cutting spending. A proposed Capital Improvement Program for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 shows a reduction of $46.5 million from last year’s five-year plan. “It certainly is an amendment to what we were thinking last year,“ Budget Director Allan Carmody said before he presented the proposal to the Board of Supervisors in a work session yesterday.

It’s now up to the Hanover County Board of Supervisors to decide whether a 10-home subdivision gets built in the historic Brown Grove community. This month the Planning Commission recommended approval—for the second time in less than a year—for the proposed homes off Ashcake Road. Seven of the 10 homes would be built by Hometown Realty and priced between $225,000 and $260,000. Two others would be built by Hanover Habitat for Humanity and would be available for families that meet the organization’s eligibility requirements. One existing home on the property would be renovated.

The Henrico County Board of Supervisors did what it does best last night—stuck with what it knows will work. But in doing so, the board broke with a long-standing tradition. On a 4-0 vote with one abstention, the supervisors chose David A. Kaechele to serve a second straight term as chairman. In recent memory, the board’s vice chairman one year has become the chairman the next. But Patricia S. O’Bannon, last year’s vice chairwoman, was passed over in favor of Kaechele.

Chesterfield County is asking the Circuit Court to throw out a lawsuit filed by a local family against the Board of Supervisors over a zoning rejection.